


Bring Him Home

by iamjacksblindrage



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Marriage of Convenience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 16:45:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9193994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamjacksblindrage/pseuds/iamjacksblindrage
Summary: Jack and Vernon get married so Jack can get citizenship





	

Jack had been struggling with immigration since he'd moved to LA, and over time, it hadn't gotten any better, even with a steady job with the Grumps. So ending up back in Lisbon was disheartening, especially with all of his new friends in another country. 

'You should just do a green card marriage, dude,' Ross jokes with him one night, and Jack suddenly has a lightbulb idea. 

He and Vernon have quite a few text and skype chats over the coming weeks once Jack mentions it to him. Vernon frets, so much. 

"Are you sure you really wanna do this, Jack? You're my best friend, and I want to help you so much, I'm more than willing to do this for you, but I need to know that you're really ready to resort to this."

"I'm positive, Vern," Jack replies, furrowing his brow and frowning just a bit. "This is going to be the easiest way for me to get residency in America. And I have no problem beating the system this way."

It's a few more months before Jack can get back to the States. He ends up staying on Vernon's couch while they work with the immigration office and the county courts to get a marriage license. The guys from the office come to bear witness to their wedding, heckling their friends from the seats of the court room. Arin and Ross howl when Jack and Vernon kiss, and while everyone else claps and cheers, and afterwards, they all head down to Little Tokyo for dinner.

Jack ends up moving in with Vernon, simply because his address is listed everywhere as Vernon's, and it ends up helping out Vernon in terms of making rent each month. They replace Vernon's old couch with a nicer, newer futon so Jack has a place to sleep in Vernon's tiny studio apartment. Michael showers Jack in affection, too, which makes Jack feel a little bit better about taking up space in Vernon's apartment.

Jack watches Vernon from across their apartment more and more often over the months following their wedding. Vernon has a tendency to curl up with Jack on the futon when they're winding down for the night and will leave passing touches in the small of his back when they're dancing around each other in the small space they share. Vernon also starts to lose any sense of shyness around Jack, and Jack can't help but admire Vernon's tight ass and thick thighs and solid back when he changes in front of Jack. 

Something stirs in Jack's chest when he looks at Vernon these days. It takes him a while to figure out it might be a big old fashioned crush - with Brian's help, actually. Brian had pulled him aside one afternoon at the office, which was odd enough, but then he turned a serious, kind face on Jack, and Jack nearly keeled over in shock.

"Are you doing ok, Jack? You and Vernon?"

"What? Of course, Bri, why would ya think otherwise?"

Brian gives him a stern look. "You've been giving Vernon the most pining looks lately If you like him, you should tell him, because he's been disgustingly sappy about you lately, too."  
Jack's heart leaps up into his throat and he chokes out a little "what?" Brian grabs him by the shoulder and hauls the slim man in for a hug.

"Bro, Vernon has a huge fucking crush on you. You two are married, there's no reason why you can't love each other, too."

Jack ducks his head and presses his forehead to Brian's shoulder. He's tearing up a bit, and he holds on to Brian's shirt. "Thanks, man."

That night, while they're curled up on the futon, eating dinner and watching the new episode of The Walking Dead, Jack decides it's time to make a move. Vernon has his feet tucked up under him and he's leaning towards Jack, so it's easy enough for him to stretch his arm around Vernon's shoulders, pulling the older man closer against his side. Vernon makes a startled little noise, but slowly, Vernon relaxes and lays his head on Jack's shoulder. Jack's stomach flops and he can't help but grin and duck down to kiss the top of Vernon's head.

Vernon pulls away a lot sooner than Jack likes, as the end credits roll, and gathers up their dishes to clean them. When he rejoins Jack, though, he sits down a bit farther away, and Jack's heart sinks a little, worried he's made Vernon uncomfortable. But then Vernon's hand bridges the gap between them and his fingers tangle with Jack's and his heart soars. He grins over at Vernon, who's red in the face and hiding his own smile and Jack relaxes into the cushions. 

Slowly but surely, Vernon starts to scoot closer, his hand still holding on to Jack's, until the pair are shoulder to shoulder. Jack looks over to see Vernon looking up at him through his eyelashes, and Jack doesn't even bother trying to stop himself. He dips down and captures Vernon's soft lips in his own. The kiss is soft and slow, and Vernon gasps against Jack's mouth while he clutches at Jack's hand. Jack smiles and kisses Vernon a little more firmly before he pulls himself away.

"I've got a big, stupid crush on you, Vern," Jack breathes, fingers tightening around Vernon's. "I've been really nervous about this, to be honest. I hope you're not upset about it." His breathing is labored, and he's starting to chew his lip, but Vernon's not pulling away, doesn't look mad or scared - he looks more confused than anything.

"I'm not upset, Jack," Vernon says, leaning closer to him. His mouth starts to curl up into a grin while he presses his forehead against Jack's. "How could I be, when I've had a crush on you since day one."

Jack gasps out a little laugh and presses forward to kiss Vernon firmly on the mouth, both of them grinning. Their teeth click together, and it would be painful, if joy wasn't blossoming in their chests. 

That night, Jack doesn't bother unfolding the futon.

Things go downhill fast, though. Vernon's brain fights against them every step up the way, his near-crippling anxiety and self-doubt making his everyday life almost unbearable. Jack encourages him to seek professional help, and somehow, it gets worse before it gets better. 

Vernon comes home from therapy one afternoon, and he's tense, more tense than normal, and he flops down on the futon and pulls one of the throw pillows over his head. Jack kneels down next to him and tries to pull the pillow out of Vernon's grasp, though the man just clings to it tighter.

"Baby, please, is there something I can do?" Jack asks, grabbing one of Vernon's hands.

"Can you just leave me alone?!" Vernon shouts, his voice stangled. "You're only here so you can have residency!"

"If you think I don't care about you, you're sorely mistaken," Jack murmurs, rubbing Vernon's bicep. 

"Do you even have feelings for me?! Or did you want to make this more bearable for both of us?" Vernon responds, his voice louder, harsher. "You married me because I'm the sad, lonely 28 year old with absolutely zero romantic prospects. I'm the only one of our friends who's life wouldn't be interrupted by it, because my life is fucking pitiful, so why don't you fuck right off, and you can file for divorce the moment you can!" 

Michael, who had been curled up at Vernon's feet, mewls in fear and flies off to hide in the tub. Jack furrows his eyebrows and plops down on his ass next to the futon. His heart is in his throat and his hands are shaking.

"Vernon," Jack breathes.

"Go!" Vernon shouts, and Jack can hear the tears in his eyes, but Jack doesn't know how to get through to him, so, in shock, he stands, grabs his phone, keys, and wallet, and makes his trek downstairs. He orders an Uber from the sidewalk and heads to the office, shell-shocked, unsure where else to go. It's a Sunday, so no one should be in, giving Jack some time to himself.

The office is silent when Jack lets himself in, predictably. Jack doesn't know what to do with himself, doesn't know how to handle anything, so he grabs the crate of unsorted mail from the corner and starts going through it. It's mindless enough that his emotional state doesn't affect his ability to accomplish this task, but it's enough to keep his hands and his mind occupied. It's hours later before he's startled out of his trance by the office door squealing open.

Jack's shocked to see Dan duck into the main office space just moments later. Dan's face relaxes when he catches sight of the young Irishman. 

"What are you doing here, man?" Jack asks, setting down the box he had in his grip. 

"I could ask you the same thing," Dan responds, moving to sit beside Jack on the floor. "Vernon called Barry, told him he was considering hurting himself. He said he ruined things with you, that you took off, and he couldn't get ahold of you. None of us could get an answer from you. We've been worried."

Jack looks down at his phone and he's surprised to see about 50 missed calls and numerous texts. His chest twists with guilt.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to worry you guys. Is Vernon okay?"

"Vernon's convinced himself that you hate him," Dan responds, putting a wide, heavy hand on Jack's shoulder. "Barry's had his hands full with him, I guess."

Jack slumps in on himself, covering his face with his hands. "I should have stayed. He's hurting and I left him, fuck. I'm scum."

Dan hauls Jack in for a big hug, rubbing his friends back. "You're not scum," he murmurs against Jack's hair. "You were scared and confused, and you did what you thought was right. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"Do you think he'd forgive me?" Jack mumbles, looking up at Dan with wide, wet eyes. Dan huffs softly and strokes a hand over his hair. 

"He won't think twice about forgiving you. It's your forgiveness he's going to be asking for."

The drive back to the apartment is quiet. Dan doesn't say anything, though he's a comforting presence anyways. He knocks his fist against Jack's bicep outside his apartment, and smiles gently at his young friend, and Jack is so, so thankful for Dan.

Barry's holding Vernon on the futon when Jack and Dan step into the apartment. Vernon's crying silently and holding onto Barry's shirt, and on the coffee table are the lighter from the junk drawer in the kitchen, and the translucent orange bottle that Jack recognizes as Vernon's Xanax. Jack's stomach roils. 

"Jack," Vernon chokes, reaching for him with one hand while he held onto Barry with the other. "I'm sorry, please, don't leave me." Jack meets Vernon, holds onto his hand tight, and crouches before him. Kissing Vernon's soft fingers is easy from this position. 

"I'm not leaving you," Jack murmurs, his blue eyes and pink lips steady, despite his shaking fingers. "Vern, I love you so much, and you're going through hell right now, I'm not going anywhere. I'm sorry for scaring you. My brain didn't know what to do, so my body went on autopilot. I'm so sorry."

Vernon throws himself at Jack, letting the young man hold him upright and quiet his tears. Barry ghosts a hand over the top of Vernon's head as he eases past the couple and heads towards where Dan is standing in the doorway.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," Barry mumbles, shepherding Dan out of the apartment, shutting the door softly behind him.

"I love you, too," Vernon sobs. "I'm sorry for treating you so badly, I'm sorry for worrying you, please, I love you so much."

Jack swipes the tears away from Vernon's soft face with either of his thumbs and peppers his face in gentle kisses.

"I'm never leaving you again, sweetheart," Jack whispers. "I promise."


End file.
